Seduced by Logic: Émilie Du Châtelet, Mary Somerville and the Newtonian Revolution - Rilegato

Arianrhod, Robyn

Rilegato

ISBN 10: 0199931615 ISBN 13: 9780199931613

Casa editrice: OUP USA, 2012

Riassunto

This is the fascinating story of two women who lives were guided by a passion for mathematics and an insatiable curiosity to know and understand the world around them ― the beautiful, outrageous Émilie du Châtelet and the charmingly subversive Mary Somerville. Against great odds, Émilie and Mary taught themselves mathematics, and did it so well that they each became a world authority on Newtonian mathematical physics.
Seduced by Logic begins with Émilie du Châtelet, an 18th-century French aristocrat, intellectual, and Voltaire's lover, whose true ambition was to be a mathematician. She strove not only to further Newton's ideas in France, but to prove that they had French connections, including to the work of Descartes, whom Newton had read. She translated the great Principia Mathematica into French, in what became the accepted French version of Newton's work, and was instrumental in bringing Newton's revolutionary opus to a Continental audience.
A century later, in Scotland, Mary Somerville taught herself mathematics and rose from genteel poverty to become a figure of authority on Newtonian physics. Living in France, she became acquainted with the work of one of Newton's protégés, Pierre Simon Laplace, and translated his six-volume Celestial Mechanics into English. It remained the standard astronomy text for the next century, and was considered the most influential work since Principia.
Connected by their love for mathematics, Émilie and Mary bring to life a period of remarkable political and scientific change. Combining biography and history of science, Robyn Arianrhod's book explores the roles both women played in bringing Newton's Principia to a wider audience, and reveals the intimate links between the unfolding Newtonian revolution and the origins of intellectual and political liberty.

Su questo libro

Recensione:

...timely reminder of how little things have changed since the 19th century and how much women of science can accomplish. (Wall Street Journal)

L'autore:

Robyn Arianrhod is an Honorary Research Associate in the School of Mathematical Sciences at Monash University. She is the author of Einstein's Heroes.

Su questa edizione

• Editore: OUP USA
• Data di pubblicazione: 2012
• ISBN 10: 0199931615
• ISBN 13: 9780199931613
• Rilegatura: Copertina rigida
• Numero di pagine: 352